Education &
Research

Education is at the core of the Screech Owl Sanctuary & Animal Park’s work. Sharing our knowledge of the owls and other animals, their characteristics, habitats and conservation is one of our key aims.

We work with a variety of community and educational organisations for all age groups and abilities providing both off-site visits and on-site activities and workshops.

Our offsite work can be done at a wide range of settings with a selection of our owls and other animals. We can tailor our time with your group to meet your specific requirements be that a current curriculum topic or just curiosity about owls & other animals.

Groups catered for include:

• Educational establishments (schools, colleges, universities, childminders, home education groups, preschools etc.)
• Care homes and other residential settings
• Youth groups (scouts, brownies etc.)
• Community groups (WI, Over 60s, church groups etc.)
• Hotels & holiday parks
• Private individuals (e.g. birthday parties and weddings etc.)

For those organisations wishing to bring a group to visit us we can offer a range of demonstrations and activities to tie in with the topics/subject matter being studied, from reading Meerkat Mail to studying animal management and welfare or just a curiosity for conservation.

We understand that every group is unique, and we are happy to work with teachers or group leaders to adapt the visit to meet your specific requirements. We will agree a program of activities for your group ahead of your visit.

Educational Visits can be arranged at any time of the year. Fees are calculated per event and depend on the location and duration of the visit. Please contact us for more information.

The Sanctuary is not large enough to have it’s own programme or facilities, but has supported several individuals with their post-graduate and graduate research projects, for example:

• Paula Cardozo (University of Nottingham/University of Bogata(Columbia)) – post-graduate research project (MSc) centred on owl evolution & adaptations.
• Katie Kilgallon (University of Swansea) – dissertation on captive meerkat welfare and breeding.
• Jack Goldring (University of Plymouth – BSc Environmental Science) Jack did a 4-month placement with us from October 2022. The focus of his studies was the environment around the ponds on site and the management of this to support local wildlife.
• Stephen Farmer (University of Gloucestershire – BSc Ecology and Environmental Science). Stephen was on placement with us for 6 months in 2024. During this time, he did research for his dissertation (A Palynological Study informing a Rewilding Project in Cornwall, England). He supported our Tree Planting project researching the local area and assisting in providing educational material for information signs for our newly planted area.
• Provision of mustelid scats to Professor Emma Jenkins (Director of IMSET/ Associate Prof in Archaeology at the University of Bournemouth) to assist in a project to research into the historical use of small mammals to keep house mice at bay.

Meerkats:

We have also provided meerkat data to several research projects, feathers provided for DNA investigation into the diversity of owl species & hospital records provided for statistical review of rehabilitation success rates.

Ringing of all wild birds released after rehabilitation to assist the British Trust for Ornithology in their research and understanding of wild owl populations and rehabilitation success rates. Ongoing collection of information with our British Trust for Ornithology ringer on native owl management.

We are always prepared to offer our site, resources and time to support third-party research projects. If you have something suitable in mind, please get in touch with us.